34,000 pounds of opium poppies seized from fields in Monterey County

In what may be the largest opium bust in California history, Monterey County sheriff’s investigators seized more than 34,000 pounds of opium poppies around the county.

Photo: Monterey County Sheriff’s Office

In what may be the largest opium seizure in California history, Monterey County sheriff’s investigators collected more than 34,000 pounds of opium poppies over the course of five weeks, officials said.

An astounding 5.6 acres of poppies were growing in eight separate fields on private property around the northern part of Monterey County, authorities said. The first field was discovered April 22 in the Moss Landing area. Others were found from May 22 to 25.

“We got a botanist to come out there with us and confirm that we had what we thought we had,” said John Thornburg, a commander for the Sheriff’s Office. “The plant is illegal in California, and it’s also not native to California, so this is very unique.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Association classifies opium poppies as a Schedule II controlled substance. There is some confusion, however, because the seeds of the flower — Papaver somniferum by its scientific name — are readily available, including on websites such as Amazon.

Close-up of an opium poppy.

Photo: Monterey County Sheriff’s Office

There’s no question, however, that turning the plant into drugs such as heroin — which can be derived from it — is against the law.

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Thornburg said that some people have suggested that the plants weren’t grown for nefarious purposes. “But regardless of how pretty they are, they’re still illegal,” Thornburg said. He also said that while he couldn’t reveal details of the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office had “reason to believe these weren’t for viewing pleasure.”

Investigators are now working to determine who might have been growing the large number of opium poppies. No arrests have been made, but the property owners are under investigation. The eight fields were on different properties, Thornburg said.

“As the crow flies, they’re not that far apart,” he said.

Thornburg said that although they’ve seen an increase in opium and heroin use in the county, it doesn’t appear that these poppies are making their way into the drugs they’ve previously confiscated. “That doesn’t mean it’s not showing up somewhere else,” he said.

A small number of the plants have been kept as evidence, but the rest have been destroyed. Sheriff’s deputies, with help from the California National Guard, pulled the plants from the ground and took them to be destroyed.

Thornburg said that this is the only such seizure in memory. “As far as we can tell, this is the first and only time we’ve ever run into opium fields in Monterey,” he said.

She graduated from Yale in 2017 with a degree in English. Before joining The Chronicle, Haigney had internships at The New York Times and The Boston Globe, where she covered arts and culture. She was also an editor of and occasional contributor to the travel magazine Off Assignment.